


Reversed Fortunes

by MimiIvory



Series: Two Steps To The Left, And a Long Fall [7]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adult Asriel Dreemurr, Alternate Universe - Asriel Dreemurr Lives, Alternate Universe - Monsters Weren't Sealed Underground, Fairy Tale Style, Gen, Humans are Awesome, Humans were sealed underground, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mentioned Asgore (Undertale) - Freeform, Mentioned Toriel - Freeform, Minor Character Death, Monsters won the war, Parent W. D. Gaster, Pre-Accident W. D. Gaster, Scientist W. D. Gaster, Storytelling, The Barrier (Undertale), humans lost the war, references to cannibalism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:54:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29355294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MimiIvory/pseuds/MimiIvory
Summary: Come on, children. Do you want to hear the story of how we were sealed down here? Of course you do. Gather round. Don't be shy.
Relationships: Chara & Asriel Dreemurr, Original Character & Original Character
Series: Two Steps To The Left, And a Long Fall [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2124726
Kudos: 8





	Reversed Fortunes

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Human!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11717874) by [Sweetooze](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweetooze/pseuds/Sweetooze). 



> I wanted a comprehensive story about humans imprisonment in the underground. So here you go.

It was a bright fall afternoon when Asriel fell into the Below.

Asriel was the son of the king and queen. There is only one king and queen, although from there, the political structure gets rather tricky. Dukes and duchesses, and lords and ladies, and high counts, although I’ve never heard of a low count. Have you?

Maybe when we get out.

Asriel fell onto hard rock, but he did not dust. He was a monster, a boss monster at that, and he was not pushed. It takes intent to kill a monster.

That’s why we were down there in first place. Monsters were scared.

I know the ability to not die unless someone wants to kill you sounds like a blessing, but what if someone wants to kill you? Then you die. Very, very easily.

And humans could not be killed so easily. Humans are made of blood and meat, not magic and intent.

The monsters were scared. And the humans talked. Of a world without monsters, without having to edit every urge, for the comfort of beasts.

Of course, not every human wanted them dead. But free speech was allowed, unless it escalated to action. And we didn’t use lava pits back in the day.

And the monsters were scared. So they hunted down humans, and stole their souls and shoved them into their chests, and it gave them power.

Yes, like Asriel. The difference is that he asks before taking your soul, and he only gets it once you are dead.

The monster-things killed many humans. They gave the souls to their fellow monsters. One day, a monster was wreaking havoc on a village, and everyone already had a soul, so they took it for themself.

This made the monster stronger.

At first the monsters were only planning on killing the humans who had spoken of killing monsters, but they soon learned that humans retaliate when you kill their kind. So why not wipe them out?

Well, humans do not let you get away with murder. Especially of their family

The queen and king were opposed to all-out slaughter. So they settled it with the killers. They could kill as many humans as they wanted, but at the end, there would be one hundred left alive. They would be locked in a mountain that could not be passed, except by a monster with a human soul, or a human with a boss monster soul. This was so any monster could escape. A monster with ten souls could break the Shell, but when would that happen?

The humans were slaughtered without mercy, pushed to the edge of the Shell, where they were lowered to the ground and then locked in.

Our ancestors thought that it was a very interesting way of killing them all. You can tell, because of the etchings near the Pit. I know that they are partially defaced, but there is still knowledge there.

Our ancestors scavenged edible mold, and ate bats, and the bodies of the dead.

No one wants to eat a body, but if it was that or starve, which would you choose?

That’s what I thought.

They also carved stairs into the stone around the pit, after they realized they couldn’t get out the Door. It didn’t work, of course, because we are still down here. And the Shell.

We learned how to grow mold, and keep the bats population right, so we didn’t have to eat bodies. We burn them in the Volcano. Only bad people get burned alive.

Which brings us back to Asriel. He was lost. He tried to climb back up, but only two souls combined can make it through the Shell.

So he sat and cried at the bottom of the Pit, until Chara showed up.

You all know about Chara, of course. 

Oh, alright.

Chara was from the Volcano. The Volcano isn’t a nice place to be now, because it reminds us of dead bodies, and it is not hard to slip and fall. But back then, it was worse.

This was a couple of lifetimes after we were trapped down here. Long enough for the stories of the surface to sound worth sacrificing anything for. And a child with eyes as red as fresh blood is a lot less than anything.

They weren’t going to sacrifice them yet, though. Still a child. But they knew what their fate was, and no one treated them with kindness. Said they were a waste of food. Hurt them.

Of course, nowadays, we would have caught them. But the reason we would have caught them is because of Chara. Someone wanted to see the door, and when they passed through, they saw Chara. There was another child, too. Peter. You know about Peter.

Yeah, you’re named after him.

But they saw how scared Chara was, so they stole Chara. Once they heard about how much the people hurt Chara, they took Peter, and threw everyone else into the Volcano. They took Peter because he wasn’t old enough to be able to decide to hurt Chara

Chara hadn’t been in the Mouth for long, but they liked it better than the Volcano. They didn’t trust everyone, because they had been hurt. But they were brave enough to approach a little boy covered in fur.

Of course there were scary stories about monsters. But there were scary stories about Chara, too, which made it easier to ignore. So they told Asriel that he shouldn’t cry, because he was being a baby.

Asriel was scared of Chara, but they just kept talking, and didn’t hurt him, until he could speak again.

He asked them if they were going to kill him.

They told him no, that people who hurt children get burned alive.

Asriel was scared, but he was still a child, which made him safe. He let Chara take him to Beth.

The plan was to kill any monster they came across, before they could kill any humans. To get food to grow down here. But this one didn’t kill Chara, and was a child besides. And they don’t kill children.

So they gave him some food and a bed, and left him to tell everyone that there was a little monster lost in the Underground.

He did not eat the bats, so they gave him more moss.

Yes, most people like bats, that’s why no one complained. I think it is a monster thing.

They did not know that he was a Boss monster then, though. He told Chara, months later. Chara told him not to tell anyone, because a human with a boss monster soul could cross the Shell. So he didn’t tell anyone else for months.

But he was raised a prince, not a secret keeper. It slipped out.

But no one had the heart to kill a little boy, even if he was the key to freedom. So he grew up Below. Learned how to make healing bullets, through trial and error. Lots of error.

They just sting a bit, if he makes it wrong. Don’t worry.

They learned to keep deaths from him, after he almost fell apart after learning what happened to Chara. He did not watch the burning of corpses.

I know it would have been quicker, but he was a child. We do not force those burdens on children.

And then one day, Peter walked down to the Pit, and there were clothes and food. Out of nowhere!

Beth figured they must have been for Asriel, but Asriel had grown up Below. He knew you didn't hoard anything. But he got a striped shirt, and pants, and most of the magic food that they couldn’t grow something out of.

There were spots of light, and dirt, and it didn’t take too much work to get them in one place.

When Asriel was an adult, by our standards, and a couple of Giftdays had come and passed, Jack got hurt.

Yes, I know your sister is named after Jack. I was there.

Anyway, Jack was hurt badly, and he asked for Asriel to take his soul. Asriel refused at first, of course. But Jack insisted. He told him that he would die either way, and that this way Asriel could get resources to plant things. Clothes that hadn’t been worn for generations. Lights.

Asriel agreed. He took Jack’s soul, the color of peach and put it in his chest. He grew. No one remembered what souls did to a monster, but Asriel grew. There were lines on his face.

Mary couldn’t believe it. But he was there.

Asriel did not dust in the wake of Jack’s death. Maybe it was the fact that death is a constant here. We slip it into songs and bedtime stories, and pray for the surface, and accept the void. He must have known of it.

Of course, you know the ones about how to splint and heal, and cluster in the cold, and to only go into the Winter with two layers on. But death is not something monsters talk about.

He went back to Chara, and Chara told him that they were proud of him, and to talk to Beth.

Beth told him to get a job on the outside.

Asriel did, under the name Tero. He became a healer. 

Of course there were healers Above But Asriel was the only one down here, so he was good at it.

But he went back to the mountain at night. He traded his G for food, supplies, clothes, wood, beds. Once or twice, someone decided to try and follow him home, but no one believed that the mountain was occupied. Let alone by monsters. Or maybe they just didn’t want to face it. Face the people living off corpses, and moss and bats.

One day, a man traveled down the pit. He was there to study, but of course, he couldn’t get out. Asriel had two souls. One of them was Sarah, soul as yellow as the sun, according to Asriel. She pressed the soul into his hands, and told him to get everyone out. After that he was taller. Lines multiplied. He told Chara that he could hear them, sometimes. He passed on messages to the family.

Yes, you will get to live on. Maybe with a monster friend if you make one. There are more monsters on the Above.

The newly fallen man’s name was Aster. He was related to the man who set them down there. He was a scientist. He did not trust humans. Not even after seeing how they lived. Not after seeing the little prince running around with their best friend. Not after how quickly they found him a place at the End.

But he saw each act of kindness. He saw the way that the children tried to learn his language. He heard the rhymes about death chanted by little children. He dusted, because he had no hope to escape, and he was convinced humans were evil. He could not accept that the monsters had trapped a race just like then. It was a loss, but for a while, Beth thought he might kill someone. And a hostile dead was better than a child.

Beth was next, soul the green of moss at the edge of the Pit.. Asriel grew tattoos on his arms.

I’m sure someone noticed the way that Tero grew, but they didn’t mention it. They didn’t mention the fact that a scientist went missing, or how similar Tero looked to the prince, or the way that he would disappear every night.

Monsters don’t like to ask questions. False hope is dangerous.

Yes, even that can kill a monster. Aren’t you glad you’re made of flesh and bone?

Barb died, soul light blue. Robin, deep purple.

Asriel had whorls up and down his arm. Chara was growing up.

Another monster fell. This one looked like a bird, and was a child.

They wanted to be up there, with their family. But Asriel took them aside, and introduced them to Thomas and Kate and Beth, and they stayed with him.

When Thomas died, he gave his soul to his little girl. And she grew. She went by Arial, and helped Asriel heal people.

No one asked where she came from. They seemed glad that Tero had someone to look after him.

Robin died, dark blue soul, lines on Asriel’s feet. He told Chara about how it hurt to have them all there, how they all wanted to have the rest free.

Chara died, soul red as their eyes. Asriel gained hearts up and down his chest. He didn’t leave the Below for days, until Arial dragged him off.

There were questions, of course. But Asriel shrugged them off, and did not take his shirt off ever in the presence of monsters. They might see the light shining through.

Peter died. He was young, but he was hurt badly. Asriel tried to fix him, but there was nothing he could do.

His soul was orange. Darker than the other orange soul. Wings began to bud, as lines covered his legs.

Asriel did not get questioned on his wings, because he hid them.

Of course people died without Asriel taking their soul. He was gone most of the day, and souls do not stick around forever. 

Yes, Chara’s soul stayed for hours. But not all of us are Chara.

I do not know how long Rara’s soul will stay around. I think it has more to do with the person that they are then the name, but who knows?

Maybe mine will stay long. I hope so. But with monsters everywhere, it might not matter, huh?

Anyways, Coral died, soul green. His wings peeked out of the largest shirts now.

Yes, of course Asriel got questions. Someone on inspection even tried to fight him. He ran away.

Well, how else do you leave an encounter?

No one got any answers.

Charlie died. His soul was light purple and so fragile Asriel barely preserved it before stuffing it in his chest.

And then he broke the Shell.

Yes, the Shell is broken. But if we went out there before the monsters were ready, they might have killed us all.

We still scare them. But we are fairy tales and not present dangers so we are safer then we were.

Asriel made peace, so we can leave now. Come on, children, let’s go.


End file.
